How to Connect your Chromebook to a TV Wirelessly – Fast and Easy

So you want to learn how to connect your Chromebook to a TV wirelessly.

That’s easy. Super easy.

All you’ll need is your basic equipment, a Chromebook, a home network, a Chromecast dongle, and this tutorial. That’s about it.

No apps to install. No wires to mess around with. No hassle to deal with.

Chrome makes it easy.

Ready to get started? Let’s connect. (Sorry.)

Things you’ll need:

Chromecast

Chromebook

TV with “HDMI IN” port

WiFi network

Getting connected

If you’ve got all the ingredients, you’re ready to connect wirelessly to your TV.

Here’s how:

Step 1: Turn on your TV and set the channel to “HDMI.”

You’ll probably have multiple HDMI channels if you have a standard TV. If you do, you’ll have to choose the right one. By default, most TVs don’t have the HDMI ports labeled as “HDMI 1” or “HDMI 2” so you’ll have to just take a guess as to which port ties to which channel.

But don’t worry, we’ll figure it out soon in the Troubleshooting section if it doesn’t work. Just be on any HDMI channel for now.

Step 2: Connect your Chromecast or Android TV box to the HDMI port.

Go ahead and plug it into the port. Again, if you don’t know which channel you’re supposed to be, don’t fret.

Step 3: Power up your Chromebook

Turn on your Chromebook if you haven’t already and launch the Chrome Browser.

Step 4: Launch your media

Go to YouTube, Netflix, or wherever else you want to go. This is what you’ll use to test the wireless connection.

Step 5: Get it ready

Connect to your TV from your Chromebook by clicking the “cast” option.

Right-click on the screen to open up the options. Look for the “Cast…” option. Click on that and you’ll get a popup window asking you a few questions.

If you don’t see the “Cast..” option, try right-clicking somewhere else on your screen. Avoid videos, images, and other media on screen. Try clicking somewhere blank.

You can also access this option by clicking on the menu (top-right corner) and looking for the option.

Step 6: Select your device

In the list, you’ll see all the detected Chromecast devices that are active. Choose the one you want to connect to (this option is for those who have multiple Chromecasts- which I doubt you do if you’re reading this since you’d already know how to set one up unless you’re trying to set them all up simultaneously for the first time).

You’ll probably only see one active one. Select that one and proceed through the steps.

Step 7: Cast it

It’s done. Your media should now be visible since you’re now connected from your Chromebook to your TV wirelessly.

Troubleshooting

Can’t see anything on the screen?

Try cycling through all your HDMI channels with media playing from your laptop. Some TVs have multiple HDMI channels like we discussed earlier. You need to find the right one.

Can’t detect the Chromecast connection?

Be sure it’s set up properly. It needs to be connected to same WiFi network as your laptop and you’ll see it appear on your assigned TV with its assigned name. If you’re sure it’s set up properly and you still can’t detect it, try resetting it.

Are you using the right band on your router?

Chromecasts are compatible with 2.4GHZ (801.11 b/g/n) and 5GHZ networks, which you should see when booting up the device. If your router is able to support both, to disable AP isolation xyz. The 5GHz band is recommended for best performance.

If you have no idea what any of this means, contact your router’s support line. You don’t want to mess something up while trying to set up the connection.

Still not working?

Restart your Chromebook, WiFi router, Chromecast device, and any other devices that could be interfering with the connection. Then try again.

If you’ve done everything you can, I’d suggest for you to contact Google’s customer support or try posting in their product forums.

If you’ve never used their support forum before, you simply connect your Google Account to the forum, post your question, and you’ll get a response right away. These replies are from other people and not always from Google representatives themselves. It’s a community-driven support desk offered for free by Google. It gets you faster answers and relieves Google a bit of burden. Try it out.

Be sure to leave a detailed situation of your issue and be clear but concise. Use bullet points or other summaries to get your problem across. You’ll likely receive better replies by doing so. I’ve used it before and people don’t like to reply to poorly-worded posts or problems that just ramble without any formatting. These are just some tips that so you can get the best replies to solve your Chromecast problem.

You’re done

That’s it. You should now be able to stream videos, images, and text straight to your TV without wires. You’re done. Congrats. You did it. Wasn’t that easy?

About Andy Z.

Andy is a casual-hardcore Chrome OS fan and contributes to the site regularly. He likes computers, tech, sports cars, videogames, and of course, Chromebooks. Thinker. Introvert. Geek. You can find him on Twitter (@platytech), or send him an email (platy@platypusplatypus.com).

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Colita

For just over a year now, I’ve been happily casting content from my Chromebook to my TV using my Chromecast. But the other day, I decided to reboot it (the Chromecast, that is). Big mistake! A message now comes up that Google has taken away the ability to set up Chromecast with a Chromebook or with any other type of computer anymore. Now the only way I can set it up (again) is through using an Android device. But if someone doesn’t have one (yes, some people do still use landlines), is it fair that they have to borrow one… Read more >>

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1 year ago

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